BULLETIN No.71

USIP A Hamas Government: Isolate or Engage? USIPeace Briefing
LA Times Two-faced on terrorism By Henri J. Barkey WASHINGTON, Jerusalem and Brussels were shocked when the Turkish government recently invited the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, to Ankara. By hosting the leader of a terrorist organization — one that has taken terror to new heights with its suicide bombings of malls and city buses — Turkey undermined its own cause. After all, Turkey has for many years been campaigning to get its homegrown Kurdish insurgency classified as a terrorist group. The United States and European Union have done so. So the invitation to the Hamas leader was particularly strange coming from Turkey, even while Turkey is negotiating to join the EU.
Washington Institute Responding to Hamas’s Triumph Marc Otte, Patrick Clawson, and David Makovsky discussed options for dealing with a Hamas government.
Jerusalem Post Report: US pushing parties to stay out of Hamas gov't
Yedioth Ahronoth 'Hamas good for PA' Poll conducted by A-Najah University reveals most Palestinians happy with results of January legislative elections, believe Islamic group can improve their lives; 60 percent think agreements with Israel should be honored
BBC Hamas seeks Saudi support Hamas leaders arrive in Riyadh in a bid to win Saudi backing for the new Palestinian government.
US presses Palestinian moderates to stay out of Hamas government
A poignant atlas of Palestinian dispossession and exile By Rami G. Khouri
A 21st-century Palestinian and Israeli dream: free movement By Franck Biancheri
Israel - Border policy a 'war declaration'
Israel’s new iron man plans ‘axis of hope’ in Middle East
Lacking Mandate on Hamas Policy, Mideast Envoy May Quit
Policy Watch: Putin and Hamas
New Statesman Britain's dirty secret Exculsive - Secret papers show how Britain helped Israel make the A-bomb in the 1960s, supplying tons of vital chemicals including plutonium and uranium. And it looks as though Harold Wilson and his ministers knew nothing about it. By Meirion Jones
Israel: 'USA not doing enough to stop Iran'...
Hamas fury at Israeli plans to carve up West Bank
Independent Israelis were warned on illegality of settlements in 1967 memo
Washington Times Editorial Israel's election quandary
As Syria's Influence in Lebanon Wanes, Iran Moves In
Syria, Iran to Set Up Oil Pipeline Across Iraq
UPI Politics & Policies: The Iranian tango
The pressure building on Iran Britain, America and France were pushing last night for Iran to be given a quick timetable to come clean about its nuclear programme or face "targeted" United Nations sanctions.
PINR "Iran's Nuclear Plans Complicate China's Energy Security" Full text of report
Russia deal 'off Iran's agenda' Iran says a Russian compromise proposal on its nuclear programme is no longer on its agenda. Straw speech to focus on Iranians The UK foreign secretary is expected to call for Europe to communicate better with the Iranian people.
Christian Science Monitor Dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions: four approaches
Foreign Policy - Seven Questions: What Next for Iraq? Nir Rosen
Der Spiegel STUDIES OF THE IRAQ DISASTER When Democracy Looks Like Civil War Recent studies offer a damning assesment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq. Thanks to US political and military failures, the country could soon become failed state. Experts warn that it's time to implement an emergency plan before civil war breaks out.
Editorial Pandora's Iraqi box
Boston Globe US Army in jeopardy in Iraq (By Gary Hart)
Daily Telegraph Iraqi Insurgents Purging al-Qaeda Supporters
Conservatives Losing Nerve on Iraq - Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
Asia Times IRAQ'S SOVEREIGNTY VACUUM, Part 1 A government with no army, no land It was touted as the beginning of a new era for Iraq, in which a freely elected permanent government would start asserting its sovereignty over the country, rising to the challenge of governing an unruly constituency. Three months later, the vision is in ruins. The government is notable only for its absence as new crises erupt daily outside its Green Zone fortress. The reason is simple: it does not have the means to enforce its rule. Iraq's soldiers are all in the US Army. - Michael Schwartz
Christian Science Monitor Rumsfeld: Iraqi troops, not US, to fight a civil war US military officials now say civil war, not insurgency, greatest security threat to Iraq.
Face of Conflict Changing for Iraqis War in Iraq has shifted focus from a fight against Sunni insurgents to a direct battle for power, survival between Iraq's Shiite majority and Sunni minority.
Time Can He Make Peace Bloom? America's ambassador to Iraq is trying hard. But a day spent at his side reveals what he's up against.